Konark: UNESCO World Heritage Site

Konark (also known as Konaditya) is a small village in India 20 miles north of Puri in the coastal region of the Bay of Bengal. It is famous─it's a UNESCO World Heritage Site, in fact─for being home to a sun temple of the same name which is widely regarded as both the culmination of Orissan architecture and one of the most stunning examples of religious architecture of any kind to be found anywhere in the world.

The massive structure sits a little more than a mile from the sea, but the sand that surrounds it testifies to the fact that the ocean originally came right up to its base. Not long ago, in fact, the Konark remained close enough to the shore to be employed as a navigational marker by European sailors, who reputedly dubbed the structure “The Black Pagoda”.